wilson moorlllls



(No Model.)

J. W. McORILLIS. FURNITURE NAIL. N0.2'70,239. Patented Ja;n.9, 1883.

R y m m v m N L F z I, a ..n F r M E H a a l a E E. F

Fuse

'WITNEEEEE.

. UNirEn STATES ATENT OFFICE.

.I. l VILSON MGGRILLIS, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

FURNITURE-NAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 270,239, dated January9, 1883.

' Application filed July 13, 1882. (No modehl To all whom it mayconcern:

Be'it known that I, J. WrLsoN MoOaiLLis, of the city and county ofProvidence, in the State of-Rhode Island, have invented a certainImprovement in the Process of Manufacturing Furniture-Nails andAnalogous Articles; and

I declare the following to be a specification of the same, referencebeing made to the accom; panying drawings.

Like letters indicate like parts.

Figure 1 shows in perspective a series of nails in position in a stripof leather-board or other suitable material, and a covering-strip forthesame. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the product of the firstoperation. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the die and plunger, showinginelevation the nailas formed in the die. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectionof the die, plunger, and nail in position, showin g the formation of themetallic covering about the knob. Fig.5 shows my improved furniturenail, which is the product of the process hereinafter described,

the nail-shank and head being in elevation,

and the knob and its metallic covering being represented in verticalsection to show the arrangement of the parts thereof. Figs. 6 and 7 aremodified forms of my invention.

' My invention is intended to provide a substitute for the brass-headednails which are extensively used in upholsterin g furniture and forother decorative purposes. The nail heretofore used in this mannerconsists of a nailshank fastened to a cup-shaped head of brass upon theunder side thereof, and secured together by casting in a mold, or bymeans of a die. They are of European manufacture, and the Americanmarket is supplied by importation of these nails, as they cannot beproduced in this country by the ordinary process suiticiently cheap tocompete with foreign labor but by my invention 1 can produce in largequantities,'by means of power, nails in all respects of equal utility,and with a great saving of brass stock, thereby reducing the cost to aminimum.

My invention relates to upholstering-nails and other analogous articlesin which a shank is secured to an ornamented head or knob.

The process consists in thrusting a series of nails through pasteboard,leather, leatherboard, or other similar substance formed in a flatstrip, the heads of such nails lying flush around the head of each nail,then by means I of adie and plunger compressing the knob so formed intothe desired shape, and finally forming by a die and plunger a disk ofsheetbrass as an exterior covering of such knob, and turning down theedge of the-sheet metal upon the under side of the knob by compressionin the die or by burnishing down the edge. The product is a brass-headednail having a solid and firm filling of corresponding shape, which notonly supports the metallic covering and prevents it from being crushedor defaced, but also confines and holds securely the nail in position. Iprefer'to use leather-board; but paper, papier-mach, pulp, or any othercompressible substance of suflicient density, capable of retaining a riid form, maybe used in my process. This ii ling substance I prefer touse in the form of strips, as shown at A in Fig. 1. Through this Ithrust aseries of beaded nails, B, driving the heads flush with the top'surfaceof the strip A. A similar plainstrip, A, may be cemented upon thestrip A. I do not,

however, desire to confine myself to the use of By means of cutters Icut from the ing a nail, B, in the center of such disks, as

shown in Fig. 2. I next use a die and plunger, the former being out inthe shape of the intended knob and the latter having a central apertureto receive the shank of the nail. The operation of the die and plungeris to compress and form the disk 0 into the desired shape. I next lay adisk of sheet-brass, a, over the die, and by means of the plunger againforce the compressed disk 0 into the matrix, which causes the sheetmetal to form smoothly and snugly upon the face and sides of the knob,as shown at D in the severalfigores. The edges of such metallic stockare. by the plunger crushed down into the under face of the knob, or maybe burnished down, if desired. The nail is now finished and is withdrawnfrom the dieand plunger.

As the essential feature of my invention is ICO the use of a cheap andcompressible filling to serve as a body for the knob and to contain orconfine the head of the nail proper, together with the covering of suchknob, bya thin sheet of metal, it is obvious that the modified formsshown in Figs. 6 and 7 are equally within my invention.

By this process I have obtained a nail the exteriorsurface of whichexactly resembles the foreign product heretofore used. The knob is asfirm as if made of thick metallic stock, because it is filled with asolid and compressed body, which also securely holds the shank from anydisplacement. The cost of the manufacture, however, is greatly reducedby using the cheaper but equally useful substance for filling, while acomparativelysmall amount of metallic stock suflices for the exposedornamental surface.

It is evident that other analogous articles, consisting of a shank heldwithin the body of an ornamental knob, may be made by this process.

I therefore claim as a novel and useful invention and desireto secure byLetters Patent 1. The improved process of manufacturing ornamental nailsor other analogous articles,

herein described, consisting in thrusting a series ot'headed shanksthrough a strip of compressible material, then cementing to said strip alayer of like material, thereby covering and confining said heads inposition, then cutting around each head a disk of said strip andcovering, then compressing said disk into the form of arigid knob of thedesired shape by means of adie and plunger,and then covering said knobwith'a sheet of metallic stock formed upon said knob by means of a dieand plunger, substantially as specified. I

2. The improved process of manufacturing ornamental nails and otheranalogous-articles, consistingin securinga series of headed shanks in astrip of compressible material, then cutting from said strip disks, eachsurrounding a nailhead, then forming said disks into rigid knobs bymeans of a die and plunger, and then forming upon said knobs by means ofa die and plunger a covering of sheet-brass having a like configurationwith said knobs, substantially as described.

J. WILSON MOORILLIS.

Witnesses:

WARREN R. PERCE, IDA 1*. Fos'rne.

